”I opened up my front door and I just heard a smack and a baby,” said neighbor Maggie McDuffy. “I came right there and got a little closer and I saw the head, and that was it, I was done.”

Maria Lopez, who lives on Bay Road near where the accident happened, said she went outside after the collision and saw a little girl who appeared to be about 5 years old lying in the street.

She said the girl had been accompanied by an adult, possibly her mother.

Lopez said the driver who struck the girl stopped at the scene. She described the driver as a young woman who appeared to be in her early 20s. There were reports that the driver may be a teacher at a nearby school.

The girl was a student at Cesar Chavez Elementary School, a school employee said.

Police are still investigating how the crash occurred, but according to the dozens of witnesses in the area there was more traffic going through the intersection than usual because of the fatal motorcycle crash.

That accident closed Bay and University Streets, causing drivers to make detours.

JMH… you’re an idiot. You may be right, in most cases, but there’s no indication the driver was at fault. It’s just as plausible the child did something wrong here. Unlikely, as well, but you can’t implicate without knowing the facts.

The first point I made is that volume of traffic doesn’t cause accidents. That is a fact. Second, there were dozens of witnesses, none of whom said the girl ran out in the street or did anything else wrong. Drivers are expected to watch out for pedestrians. But the point was that increased traffic in and of itself doesn’t cause accidents.

(It’s too bad you can’t debate an issue like an adult instead of name-calling.)

Who asked you for a debate? Where in the article does it say the girl didn’t dart out? In all probability the driver wasn’t paying attention and, if that’s the case, she’ll pay dearly… no doubt.

Where you’re wrong is in saying increased traffic doesn’t cause problems… especially when the article doesn’t identify that as the cause. Witnesses pointed it out as notable… not a cause. Just today, like any other day, sheep drivers on the freeway slammed on their brakes in order to rubber neck an accident (going the opposite direction) because they don’t have anything more interesting in their lives. I nearly rear ended the guy in front of me because people come to a complete stop when there’s absolutely no reason to do so.

Your implication that the driver was at fault is wrong. Not because she isn’t, but because there’s no evidence (yet) to suggest she was. It’s a horrible loss of life and that we can agree… but you have no idea whether she was or wasn’t driving ‘in a safe manner.’

Whitey- JMH is completely right. Us as drivers are taught to drive safely in all conditions. If they are not trying to use “increased traffic” as an excuse for the driver then it would have never been mentioned. I also read that the driver has violations for speeding, cell phone usage and not driving safely through a crosswalk!